Dressed to the Teeth? For Dinner? In Super-Hip L.A.? In ‘91?

That a skirts-only dress code exists in 1991 in Los Angeles, the capital of hip, astounds some and horrifies others:

* Gloria Allred, feminist attorney: “I think it’s time for businesses--and these clubs are, in fact, businesses--to really enter the 20th Century. . . . I think it’s women themselves who should decide when it is appropriate to show their legs. I don’t think a decision that is so personal should be made for them by men or anyone else.”

She adds: “Obviously, it does not present any health, welfare or safety problems to anyone else if (Esther Williams) wears slacks. It would be a different situation if someone came in without shoes on.”

* Eleanor Lambert, who for 51 years has produced the International Best Dressed List: “Haven’t they broken through all those barriers yet? My word . . . An Oscar (de la Renta) outfit isn’t like something Cher would wear.”

* Letitia Baldrige, arbiter of contemporary etiquette: “I mean, who denied her? That is a ridiculous story. Knowing Esther, it was probably a smashing pants suit. If she arrived in blue jeans, I can see. Everybody should be terribly apologetic. I would have run out of that building and gotten down on my knees and begged her to come back inside.”

* Dale Gluckman, associate curator of costumes and textiles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, sees dress codes as a form of social control.

“In our culture, the changes of the ‘60s and ‘70s destroyed a lot of the older norms and standards of behavior. In some ways it was the last real break with the Victorian era. It is part of the same body of exclusivity that came from clubs that excluded women or blacks or Jews.”